Humans have been displaced at the top of the food chain, and now understand - to their outright horror - what it is to be not the consumer, but the consumed. Ephraim Goodweather, director of the New York office of the Centers for Disease control, is one of the few humans who understands what is really happening. Vampires have arrived in New York City, and their condition is contagious. If they cannot be contained, the entire world is at risk of infection.

Publisher's Summary

The tension-filled sequel to The Strain, from the world-famous director whose films include Pan's Labyrinthe and Hellboy.

Humans have been displaced at the top of the food chain, and now understand - to their outright horror - what it is to be not the consumer, but the consumed.

Ephraim Goodweather, director of the New York office of the Centers for Disease control, is one of the few humans who understands what is really happening. Vampires have arrived in New York City, and their condition is contagious. If they cannot be contained, the entire world is at risk of infection.

As Eph becomes consumed with the battle against the total corruption of humanity, his ex-wife, Kelly, now a vampire herself, is ever-more determined to claim their son, Zack.

As the Biblical origins of the Ancient ones are gradually revealed, Eph learns that there is a greater, more terrible plan in store for the human race - worse even than annihilation....

Picks up where the last book left off with New York in chaos, Vampires crawling all over the place sucking blood like there is no tomorrow (possibly this will be the case.

It's now set up nicley for part three. The only down side was that Ron Perlman (who's narration gave The Strain the edge over most audio books) was not reading it. In fairness Daniel Oreskes has a a good go at it but he's no Pearlman.

Sounds like it was recorded in a tin shack during a hail storm with a home made microphone. If Alexander Graham Bell heard this he'd think we hadn't taken a single step forward in sound quality since his first phone call. Such a shame after the first one

The Fall picks up exactly where 'The Strain' finishes so you really do need to read the books in order.

Although 'The Fall' lacks the high octane tension of 'The Strain', the difference being magnified perhaps by a rather subdued narration, it is nonetheless a very enjoyable listen and never less than absorbing - well written and well plotted. Several loose ends are left dangling no doubt to be picked up in part 3.

If you liked the first book 'The Strain', then you'll love this one. It's an excellent follow up to the original. I'd recommend listening to the first one before listening to this one. It give the characters extra dept in this book.

Middle books in trilogies are always problematic- the story is no longer just beginning but at the same time, it can't end- there's a whole other volume to go yet. This book makes for a tense and at times horrifying journey between stops. It maps society unravelling with the vampire plague taking hold as our heroes struggle against overwhelming odds.

I've no clue how Guillermo del Toro's fabulist nature and Chuck Hogan's gritty street prose ever managed to come together so well as they do in this story. It's a fantastic blend of the mystic and the mundane. The revelations about the vampire Ancients are smartly developed, with a logical conclusion.

On the narration- it's no longer Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy) but Daniel Oreskes, the new narrator makes a fine substitute, with a voice that echoes if not imitates his characteristic growl.

I was initially dubious about the first book in the series 'The Strain' as I always am of books with multiple authors, but went on the pedigree of the Authors themselves (especially del Toro) and found it to be 'Ok' (no masterpiece). But as we do when we buy into a series or in this case a trilogy, we expect things to get more exciting and for the story to grow on us.

Alas The Fall seems to be aptly named.

You would have thought that the long gap in between part's one and two would mean that the authors were working on mind blowing Tension builder with plot twists for an edge of your seat thrill ride, but what becomes apparent is that they had other projects to focus on and obvious just couldn't be bothered, The story continues on straight from the first book and in my honest opinion this could have easily been tagged onto the first book.

Will I be getting the final part ? unfortunately I probably will as I feel I've invested my time in this story and deserve a conclusion and boy it had better be better than this one.......

On a final note, Vampire books aren't really my thing and I didn't realize 'The Strain' was in the genre until I started it, but this aside for those of you that haven't as yet read/listened to it yet let me wholeheartedly recommend 'The Passage' by Scott Cronin, which is everything this book and its prequel should have been.

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